Wolfgang Puck at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas

This post is long overdue. I need to post it because I get stressed out very easily when I forget to post things!

I'm pretty excited! Today I am going to meet one of my blog friends. Before food blogging, I used to blog on Livejournal heck, I still blog on there from time to time. I started my first livejournal 10 years ago. Way to make me feel old. Anyway one of my blog friends, Laura is in town for a few days and we are going to go out to brunch. We've been blog friends for over 7 years, I think!

Anywho, on to the food. I figured I might as well post about our last meal in Las Vegas. I am so behind on posts but I really don't want to post more than once a day if I can help it. So here it is.



We decided to go to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in the MGM Grand. It was a first for all of us. I ordered the pork belly BLT. I had never tried pork belly like this before and was intrigued after reading Jenna talk about it in her blog.



The sandwich came with a side of pasta salad. It was supposed to be veggie pasta salad but I didn't see enough veggies. Just noodles. Blah.



The pork belly blt was difficult to eat. It was the kind of sandwich you had to either deconstruct to eat or simply risk tearing up the roof of your mouth. I really had no desire to tear up my mouth so I deconstructed it. The bread was perfectly toasty and the tomatoes set the sandwich over the top. The pork belly tasted like bacon, no surprise there. I think it was a little thick and hard to eat. I would have preferred it sliced up on top of pasta or pizza. I think BLTs should have bacon. (And avocado)



Andy got a lamb gyro wrap with couscous and a cucumber salad. His dish was way better than mine. I know because I stole bites. Why else would we have gotten married?



The lamb in the wrap was so delicious. I used to be scared of trying things like lamb but it honestly tastes like beef to me. (I'm no culinary genius, what do I know?)



Tiffany got a cuban sandwich. OMG. I stole bites from her too. The four of us always share food. We're family. I loved the cuban, I need to order these more often!



Gary got a burger with a crap ton of fries. As far as I remember, he didn't even really eat the fries! The burger had an onion marmalade on top of it that was delicious. I do remember that.

Overall, it was a decent lunch. I think Wolfgang has his hand in way too many pots but his food is good so I guess I can't hate on him. Well, I could but I won't.

Thoughts on Wolfgang? Do you think he's a sellout?

Memorial Day and then some

Hello!

I've missed blogging but I've been sick with a nasty head cold. They aren't kidding when they tell you to wash your hands multiple times a day in elementary school. Working with kindergarteners means TONS of hand-washing for me. (But apparently, I failed.)

My head is congested, nose sniffly and my body is tired. I'm not quite out of the woods yet but getting close. I spend Saturday night sniffling away at Andy's parents house in San Diego. We saw a Padre game and they won! YAY!



Earlier this week, I made some tacos using new product finds from Trader Joe's. I love that this pre-packaged seasoning had no MSG in it. The brand I used before did so I had to toss it.



Yes, I stole Caitlin's shot glass taco holder idea. Worked like a charm. Besides the oozing hot sauce.



We filled the taco shells with lean ground beef, hot sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, diced tomatoes and guacamole.



We used this hot sauce. It's FABULOUS!



And had skinny margaritas. (Trader Joe's has an awesome mix and it's light in the sugar department. Check it out.)



Yesterday, I made us green protein smoothies. I figured some spinach might cure me. It was good! I am scared of green smoothies so I only added one cup of raw spinach.



Then it was time for a pool party and food! We heated up these baked black beans.



Brought out these dips.



Turned on the margarita machine. (This only comes out for special occasions!)





And had burgers, beans and margaritas while watching bad tv. Then we laid out by the pool with my sisters and friends. I am hoping to get some color without actually tanning this summer. It probably won't happen. I'm too paranoid about skin cancer, more freckles and weird tan lines.

How did you celebrate Memorial Day?

a healthy balance

(source)

I'm a libra. We libras are all about balance. Without a healthy balance in our lives, we start to fall apart emotionally. It explains why I do so well with daily routines but love sponetanity over the weekend!



On Thursday, I had my first caramel Oikos greek yogurt before working out. I loved this flavor! It's just the right balance of sweet and tangy. Plus it's high in protein for such a small snack!



My camera ate my lunch picture on Thursday, but I can assure you that I ate a balanced meal of a black bean burger, muenster cheese, hummus, broccoli and a kiwi.

Dinner was a bowl of corn chowder and a chicken pesto panini from Corner Bakery. It was delicious despite the fact that they gave us potato chips instead of carrots. (oh sodium, how I love you!)



Andy got tomato basil soup with a poblano chicken sandwich.



Breakfast on Friday was the one thing I was really craving. A piece of toast with my favorite golden roasted flaxseed pb from Trader Joe's.



And for my sweet tooth, some vanilla greek yogurt with a tangy kiwi.



I went out to lunch with friends and ordered a bowl of butternut squash soup. It was terrific! I need to recreate.



Dinner was mashed potatoes, broccoli slaw and burgers. I used 90/10 burgers from Trader Joe's. The burgers have decent stats and manage to curb my craving for red meat. (Something I'm trying to cut out of my diet.)



And while this plate looks huge, I promise you it was on a salad plate.



And since the burger was so low in fat, I added some guacamole on top for my daily dose of MUFAs For balance purposes.



And because I had 200 calories left for my day, I decided to add in a raspberry hard cider. (140 empty but delicious calories.)

Now let's talk about Saturday.

Strike 1- Forgetting my camera
Strike 2- Eating a bacon chili cheese dog at Pinks
Strike 3- Sharing a medium milkshake with Andy at Millions of Milkshakes

Our milkshake had vanilla frozen yogurt, banana, nutella and a chocolate syrup swirl. Neither of us felt super guilty afterwards since we shared, which was nice.

But this morning, my body craved balance! I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill, stretched and did yoga poses until I burned 583 calories! Week 4 Day 1 of Couch to 5k was HARD!

Now it's time for a HUGE veggie-filled salad at Souplantation and gallons of water.

How do you find your perfect balance?

"I'm hungry for more"

How cool would it be to have Anthony Bourdain's job? Andy and I are settled in for the night watching his show and wishing we could be him for awhile. Imagine eating and travelling for a living? FANTASTIC?



Alas, I lead a normal life. Today I planned on going to the gym after working (!!!) but my knees were killing me so I made today a rest day. After filling out tons of paperwork and watching gag-inducing bloodborne pathogen videos, I made myself lunch. Raw veg and hummus.



Veggie loaded spinach pasta with a dab of pesto and some turkey sausage. This pasta was killer. I added tomatoes, zucchini and crookneck squash to a 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and mixed it in with the pasta.



Dinner was junk food, made a bit healthier. For the burger, I used lean beef. Each burger was 190 calories, 8 grams of fat and 23 grams of protein. I used a whole wheat bun and a slice of pepper jack cheese to make it tastier.



With chipotle sweet potato fries. I use the frozen Alexia brand. Each bag hhas 7 servings but I split it into 4 servings. So I probably ate about 1.75 servings. (ok I'm a nerd!)



And a pickle.



For dessert, I'm having a mini margarita. I used one shot of tequila, one part Trader Joe's Margarita mix (it's lower in sugar than most! loooooove it!) and one part Simply Orange juice. I love making margaritas on nights like these. And the low-sugar mix doesn't spike my blood sugar like most mixes do.

As for the job, it went great because all I did today was watch that horrible video. I am completely freaked out by needles and this video was chockful of them. GAG GAG GAG!!!!

Are you freaked out by needles?

Accomplishment!

I am so happy because I got so much done today!

1. I went to the DMV before work today and changed my last name to my married name.
2. I renewed my license which expires on my birthday. (This friday!)
3. I made a Dr's appt for some bloodwork and a TB test. (I need to pass the TB test to get into the teaching credential program. It shall be a breeze.)
4. I made arrangements to volunteer at a middle school that I love. I start Friday.
5. I ran/walked 2 miles!

The couch to 5k program is great. I am still slow as molasses but my time is definitely getting faster. I feel like it is going to take me forever to train for the 5k in December. By the way if any of you are local (L.A./Ventura county area) and want to run it with me, let me know! I warn you, I am slow! I am just doing the 5k for the fun of it!



Sunday night, I made these burgers from Cooking Light. I used this recipe and lightened it up a bit.

I used whole wheat buns, low far muenster cheese and no mayo. Andy and I are not mayo fans.



We had baked bourbon beans with the burgers. Totally a "man" meal. At least it feels like it. Sunday night football with burgers, beers and beans? Manly right?



Of course after eating it, I noticed that we had NO veggies. (red onions do not count.) I need to start making more veggie side dishes but I suck at creating anything other than roasted veggies or salads. Any ideas?

Burgers with buffalo sauce

I made the best smoothie ever today! Here is a picture of it in the freezer. It contained mangoes, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, plain nonfat yogurt, orange juice, ground flax seeds, and a little blueberry pom juice. It came to around 300 calories but it was well worth it!



And for fun, here's a picture of the pretty flowers I got at Trader Joe's the other day.



For lunch, I packed a 320 calorie premade salad. It had corn, peppers, black beans, lettuce, creamy cilantro dressing, cojita cheese, chicken and tortilla strips. I also ate a laughing cow cheese wedge and some pita chips.



Dinner was inspired by this bread from Pepperidge Farm.



Frank's Red Hot also inspired me!



I made the burgers with lean ground beef, feta cheese, onions, breadcrumbs and buffalo sauce. Then we sliced up 4 small red potatoes and made fries. I tried to make them healthier by using a teeny bit of olive oil and seasonings. Dinner was about 650 calories. Yum! Next time I'm going to make sweet potato fries.

Now I'm off to watch last week's The Office episode and I'm going to write a paper. Ugh. Wish me luck!

Crazyburger in San Diego

CRAZYBURGER was CRAZY!!! After watching Guy Fieri eat at Crazyburger on the Food Network, Andy decided that we had to try it out.

Crazyburger is located in El Cajon. It looks like a random hole-in-the-wall but I loved it.

I got a bleu cheese burger with avocado, tomato, red onions and lettuce. I’m obsessed with bleu cheese and avocado. Obsessed! There is nothing I love more on a cheeseburger. I wish I didn’t love it so much. Burgers are definitely something Andy and I are going to have to enjoy in moderation. Less is more right?

Andy got the #21 SANTORINI Burger, ½ Beef ½ Lamb with Tsatsiki Sauce. Andy has a weird love for trying different kinds of meat so I would have thought that he would have wanted to try something like kangaroo! (Yes they have kangaroo..WHAT THE HECK??!?!?!?!)
We ate the burgers with some parmesan French fries. They were pretty tasty.

Thankfully we split them!

Another picture of my humongous burger. It was really huge. It was great because it wasn’t at all greasy. I usually feel super full after eating a burger like this but it didn’t bother me.
So if you’re in San Diego and you’re in the mood for a burger; check out Crazyburger!
Crazyburger is located on
4201 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104-1311
Tonight was another dinner at Whole Foods while grocery shopping day. I’m watching Desperate Housewives and trying to figure out how I’m going to finish this last semester of school. I need to start observing our teachers in their classrooms, register for the master’s program and the credential program. It feels like way too much. I never thought I’d be planning a wedding, finishing school, working almost full-time and trying to lose weight all at once. YIKES. (Oh and did I mention that I’m trying to pay off all my debt by the time we get married?)
Things are going to get interesting around here for sure.